Hello and welcome to Healthcare Magic. Thanks for your query. Your brother s symptoms are indicative of a psychiatric disorder, called Schizophrenia. Oleanz (Olanzapine) is an anti-psychotic medication which is used to treat such disorders. Olanzapine can indeed have a side effect of causing excessive sedation. Now, firstly, you must understand that psychotic disorders like Schizophrenia are usually chronic illnesses, which require long term medication. The duration of treatment will depend on the severity of the illness, the response to medication, the level of control of symptoms and the current psycho-social situation which the patient is in. Usually medication is advised for a least minimum of 6 months but in some cases, may have to be taken for years together. Secondly, you must also understand the fact that though your brother s symptoms may be currently well-controlled with this medication, if medication is stopped, there is a high risk of relapse of the previous symptoms. So, I would strongly advise you not to stop the medication without the advise of his doctor. Moreover, the side effects of the medication, like excessive drowsiness are usually most prominent only during the first few weeks of treatment and as the body gets used to the medication the side effects gradually decrease. If the drowsiness and sedation is unmanageable, then there are other medication which can be tried (like Risperidone, Aripiprazole, Amisulpiride, etc.) which will cause only minimal sedation. You can discuss about these alternative treatment options with his psychiatrist. Best wishes, Dr. Sheeba Stephen